When she saw the image of the unidentified boy found in Wylie, Laurie Forstmann froze.

He looked so much like her grandson it was unnerving. There were differences, of course, but the similarities were enough to make her hesitate.

She and her husband, Herman, haven't seen or heard from their grandson since their daughter's parental rights were terminated more than two years ago. Isaiah was put in foster care.

Their grandson has brown hair and brown eyes, just like the Wylie boy. And he has medical problems, just like the Wylie boy.

"It kept eating at me, and I told my husband we had to find out," said Forstmann, who lives in Corsicana. "What kind of people would throw away this baby?"

The couple contacted Wylie investigators. And within 24 hours, the Forstmanns were told the boy was not their grandson. Investigators were also able to say that their grandson was fine, though they couldn't reveal where he was living.

The peace of mind was bittersweet, said Herman Forstmann, who still misses the early morning phone calls Isaiah made to his YaYa and Bumpa.

The case of the unidentified little boy whose body was found a week ago in Wylie is unusual but hardly unique.

There's the preschool-age boy whose body was found in a laundry bag just outside Chicago in 2005. From 2002 is the case of a newborn boy found dead in front of a repair shop in Weld County, Colo. And still unidentified after more than 45 years is a toddler whose body was fished out of a reservoir in the mountains near Ashland, Ore., in 1963.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's website lists 142 cases of unidentified children, some of them found alive as infants but many dead and still nameless.

"You think, 'How in the world could a child go missing without someone knowing it?' " said Scott Davis of the Cumberland County Sheriff's Office in Tennessee, who has volunteered for the past decade on missing children's cases and hosts an online web series called The Missing.

Davis said the best-case scenario is that the dead child is local and will be recognized by someone in the community. If he's not local, Davis said, the question becomes where to expand the search.

"Do you look in surrounding cities, surrounding states?" Davis asked.

He started The Missing program on YouTube last year to feature unsolved cases in hopes of reaching people who might know something and hadn't heard about them through traditional news media.

"One person is all it takes," Davis said.

But, he concedes, these cases are tough to solve.

"The person that put this John Doe beside the road does not want to come forward," Davis said.

On the case

Wylie police say the boy found seven days ago by a crew mowing around a pond near Lavon Lake had "significant medical needs." He also showed signs of having had a feeding tube. The brown-haired, brown-eyed boy was small for his age, measuring 39 inches tall and weighing 28 pounds. He's believed to be about 6 years old.

Wylie police Detective Venece Perepiczka said Wednesday that investigators have received more than 400 tips so far.

"Everything we're getting in is helpful," she said. "Eventually we'll get the one to help find out who this boy is."

Wylie investigators are working with the Collin County Child Abuse Task Force and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The center's forensic artists created an image of the boy, based on police photos, that is circulating around the country in hopes that someone will recognize him.

America's Most Wanted is featuring the boy's image on its website. And a Facebook page called Wylie's Angel, started by a Dallas woman, has grown to more than 27,000 members.

Photo comparisons

Tips that come in to the National Center's 24-hour hotline are given to staffers who compare the details provided with the case. If enough information matches, callers are asked to provide a recent photo to do what's called a forensic overlay. Staffers look for points of comparison on the face in the submitted photo and that of the unidentified child, said Jerry Nance, supervisor of the center's forensic services unit.

But the photo comparisons aren't always easy.

"It can be tricky," Nance said, because children younger than 10 have growth spurts that can change their facial features.

If the photos are similar enough, Nance said, the information is sent to local investigators for further review. A positive ID will be made only through DNA or dental records.

Nance said finding the Wylie boy's body so soon after his death gives investigators their best chance at identifying him. Authorities say he'd been dead less than 24 hours.

The state's Department of Public Safety Missing Persons Clearinghouse serves as the central repository for information on missing and unidentified people in Texas. Its database lists 891 unidentified remains statewide, but program supervisor Heidi Fischer said the actual number is likely far greater because local agencies don't always report their cases to the state.

The majority of the remains on record in Texas are adults. Children's cases are relatively rare, Fischer said. But all of them are listed on the center's searchable website in hopes of eventually identifying them.

"A case is never closed unless identification is made," Fischer said.

Nationwide, an estimated 15,000 to 40,000 sets of remains are unidentified, according to the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics. Of the 4,400 cases of unidentified remains reported by medical examiners across the country in an average year, about 1,000 remain unsolved after a year, the bureau reported.

Years of waiting

The cases that drag on for years are some of the most difficult.

On April 28, 2001, the naked and headless body of a black girl was found in a wooded area in Kansas City, Mo. Three days later investigators found her head wrapped in a trash bag.

"I was convinced in the beginning that it would be a matter of hours before someone would call in and report her missing," said Sgt. David Bernard with the Kansas City Police Department's homicide unit. "I was wrong."

Bernard said investigators enlisted experts to create two graphic drawings and two facial reconstructions over the years. With each new image of the child came more tips. But still, the little girl, dubbed Precious Doe, remained unidentified.

Investigators were considering what's called an isotope analysis of teeth and bones to determine which part of the country she was from. But an ad published in a weekly newspaper generated a tip from Oklahoma that broke open the case. Three-year-old Erica Michelle Marie Green was identified nearly four years after her body was found. Her mother and stepfather were arrested in her death. Both are now in prison.

Bernard said, "It was a long, hard four years to finally get that call."

Illinois case

DuPage County Sheriff's Commander Mark Edwalds is still waiting for answers in an Illinois case that has stretched nearly five years.

A man walking his dog on Oct. 8, 2005, found a blue canvas laundry bag containing the remains of a little boy. The body was too decomposed to determine how he died.

Investigators believe the dark-haired boy is between 3 and 5 years old. They filed his DNA with a national database and had forensic artists do sketches and clay renderings to circulate to the public. Hundreds of tips poured in.

They traced the boy's dark blue button-down shirt and pants to Wal-Mart, which sold that Faded Glory brand exclusively. Edwalds said investigators found three instances in the country where the shirt and pants were purchased together. The two credit card purchases were ruled out. The one in the Chicago area, though, was made with cash.

Detectives saturated the area around that Wal-Mart with the boy's images in hopes someone would recognize him.

The case remains unsolved, though tips still come in occasionally. Edwalds remains hopeful.

Hi all How sad for all of these unidentified children. What is wrong with mankind. People are not disposable! Thanks for the latest articles, I guess I misunderstood, the article states signs of a feeding tube. I wonder how recent the signs indicate. I also searched the special needs foster care and did not find him, I searced Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Oklahoma since they were near by. It does not mean he wasn't in a foster home, he may have been in one for a couple of years and may not have been up for adoption, or maybe he was adopted. Maybe his parents killed him... So many possibilities. They should put his picture on National news everynight. They should do that with all missing and unidentifed children at the end of each segment. They should do a child a night. We owe it to our children. Maybe I will write ABC, CBS, FOX ETC.

WYLIE, Texas (CBS/AP) - Residents of Wylie Lake, Texas are trying to solve a mystery, and a tragedy, after the body of an unidentified boy was found near Lavon Lake. Authorities, who believe the boy was 6-years-old, said the child's body showed signs that he was fed with a feeding tube, and that he had significant medical needs; however, there were no apparent signs of trauma.

One week after a gardener found the body in a park, in this community about 20 miles from Dallas, residents have taken to calling the victim "Wylie's Angel," according to CBS affiliate KTVT.

Both the Wylie Police Department and the Collin County Child Task Force are investigating.

"We're marking anything that could be anything. We don't know what we have right now," Detective Venece Perepiczka told KTVT. "There's little information that we even have to go off of right now. We're just taking everything into consideration."

The chld's body was found in a place Wylie residents frequently visit.

"It's just so tragic the way this young man was left out here," said Roy Cook with Country Outreach Church in Wylie. "Just makes you appreciate everything around us."

Police say there are no missing children reports that match information about the boy.

If you have any information about this case, call the hotline of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1.800.843.5678.

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" Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts." - Daniel Moynihan

WYLIE — Healing was the theme at a Wednesday evening prayer service in Wylie, a city filled with hearts aching over the death of the child who remains unidentified.

"Two weeks ago, this community was at odds because of political campaigns," said Donna Valentino. "This has brought this community back together the way it should be."

Pastors from half a dozen churches took turns leading the prayers, said in part for the child who has become known as "Wylie's Angel," a six-year-old with a feeding tube found dead in this Collin County town two weeks ago.

But the prayers were also for the living — folks like Fire Chief Randy Corbin, attending the service as a private citizen, but well aware of the stress felt in the department he leads.

"It hurts every one of them when things like this happens," Corbin said. "It’s a shame it takes tragedy to make us remember we're all in this together."

Frustrated by the lack of clues in the case of the unidentified child, authorities are now turning to the TV show "America's Most Wanted" for help.

Strangers came by the hundreds Thursday night to mourn a little boy none of them knew.

They lit a candle, said a prayer and all asked the same question: Who is this boy whose body was abandoned a week ago near a Collin County pond?

Wylie police and the Collin County Child Abuse Task Force are working around the clock with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to try to identify him.

Dan Powers, clinical director for the Children's Advocacy Center of Collin County, said he hopes someone will come forward so this child and this community can be at peace.

"This is our child, too. It's important we find out who he is," Powers said.

Malorie Martinez, who helped organize the vigil at East Fork Park, said she never imagined when she started a Facebook page called "Wylie's Angel" that she would get such an outpouring of support.

"It just shows you how much people really care," Martinez said, applauding the membership for the online group that has expanded to more than 36,000.

People from North Texas are posting alongside folks from Indianapolis, Kansas City, Ireland and Australia about this boy whose identity is a mystery.

"He's truly become our little angel," Martinez said.

Police believe the boy's body had been at the park less than 24 hours when it was found by a mowing crew at the edge of a parking lot April 15. The brown-haired, brown-eyed boy is believed to be about 6 years old. He was small for his age, measuring 39 inches tall and weighing 28 pounds.

Investigators said the boy probably "had significant medical needs." He also showed signs of having had a feeding tube.

Autopsy results have not been released.

Three women from Allen said their favorite fishing spots at the pond and nearby Lavon Lake will never be the same. They will always be thinking about the little boy left here.

Donna Valentino said the boy's story has "unified this community the way it should be. ... I wish his family knew how many people are here for him."

Valentino stepped up to help organize the vigil. She has been posting messages on the Facebook page to stay on point. And she spent last Saturday going door to door in neighborhoods handing out fliers with the boy's image. She dropped them off at every business downtown.

At the vigil, she urged people to think about all the children still out there in need and find ways to volunteer or donate money to agencies such as the Children's Advocacy Center, where the task force working the case is based.

The center, which helps abused children, had 4,700 clients last year.

"There are kids out there still hurting, and they need our support," Valentino said.

After the vigil, many people were compelled to visit the makeshift shrine where the boy's body was found. Dozens of stuffed animals were surrounded by candles, ribbons and crosses. A tall wooden cross reads, "Wylie's Angel – RIP 2010."

Wylie City Council member Bennie Jones told the crowd at the vigil that the answers will come someday. In the meantime, he urged them to remember: "We have found an angel. This is his home now."

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" Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts." - Daniel Moynihan

WYLIE — As hundreds of people gathered in Wylie to remember a nameless child, a team of investigators and child advocates made a direct appeal to the boy's family to come forward.

No one knows who the boy's parents are — or if they are even from North Texas.

But Dan Powers, the clinical director of the Collin County Child Advocacy Center said he hopes they get the message: Help give your child an identity.

The mysterious case of "Wylie's Angel" is new territory for area law enforcement officers. Usually, they try to find missing children. But in this case, they're in the unusual position of trying to locate the parents or relatives of a child who was found dead near East Fork Park one week ago.

"You would think someone would come forth when there's a missing child," Powers said. "There are people who are concerned. But in this case, no one's coming forth."

Powers said with few similar cases and little evidence, it's nearly impossible for investigators to come up with a profile of the boy's parents.

"I hope it's somebody who loved this child very much and didn't know what to do," he said.

First Baptist Church of Wylie pastor Kris Seagrest says the boy's parents or relatives are welcome to find help and comfort at his church. "Maybe they're afraid of litigation," he said. "They should reach out to law authorities, or a church. It could be this one."

The pastor said a local attorney has offered to help with any legal concerns the child's parents might have. "He would be willing to consult with them and give any help he could," said the pastor.

The organizers of Thursday night's candlelight vigil also have a message for the boy's parents.

"All we need is his name," said Malorie Martinez, one of the organizers. "Come forward we'll help you out. Just let us bury him."

Ten investigators from the Collin County Child Abuse Task Force are working diligently on the case around the clock. Powers said no one wants to learn the boy's identify more than they do.

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" Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts." - Daniel Moynihan

The deceased child discovered on April 15 in Wylie has been identified as 6-year-old Gerren Joseph Isgrigg, the Collin County Sheriff's Department announced Friday.

Investigators identified the child from a tip received by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The department is now focusing the investigation on the child's final days, which culminated in a worker discovering his body in the 1900 block of Skyview Drive, near Lake Lavon.

No arrests have been made, although the department said it is pursuing a number of persons of interest in the case.

The Wylie community became deeply involved in the investigation. Days after the discovery, police released a sketch of what the child may have looked like. That picture soon lined the windows of storefronts throughout the city. A Facebook page for the child garnered more than 43,000 members. Both North Texas Crime Stoppers and Schepp's Dairy announced a $10,000 reward for any information leading to the child's positive identification.

First Baptist Church of Wylie held and paid for memorial services for the child, after the congregation was deeply affected by the discovery.

Police issued a picture of Gerren when he was three-years-old. The Collin County Child Abuse Task Force and the Wylie Police Department are continuing the investigation.

Police said Friday night that they have identified "Wylie’s Angel," the boy whose abandoned body was found April 15 near Lavon Lake, as 6-year-old Gerren Joseph Isgrigg. A tip filed Friday to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children led to Gerren’s identification.

The tip reportedly was filed by someone who knew the boy three years ago, authorities said. Investigators are said to be following leads on several persons of interest in the case.

The boy was discovered by a crew mowing around a stagnant pond near the lake. Police believe his body had been there less than 24 hours when it was found.

In the days that followed the discovery, Wylie police worked on the case with the national center and the Collin County Child Abuse Task Force. Forensic artists from the center created an image of the boy that was circulated across the U.S. in hopes of finding someone who recognized him.

Hundreds of tips poured in to Wylie police as word of the case spread. A Facebook page called Wylie's Angel, started by a Dallas woman, had drawn more than 43,135 members by late Friday.

Police said the boy had "significant medical needs" and showed signs of having had a feeding tube. The brown-haired, brown-eyed boy was small for his age, measuring 39 inches tall and weighing just 28 pounds.

Gary Valentine in Lavon, who found the body, said Friday night that he had not heard they had a break in the case. He had just gotten home from work and was watching television when a reporter called with the news.

"I’m glad they identified him. I hope they find out what happened," said Valentine, who said he worked as an EMT for years.

"I was so sad for the child. I couldn’t imagine somebody not wanting a baby. To me, that was not something I could dream about. I realize it does happen.

"No matter what, you don’t throw children in brush piles."

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" Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts." - Daniel Moynihan

Authorities arrested 63-year-old Darlene Phillips for killing 6-year-old Gerren Joseph Isgrigg, the child authorities spent more than a week identifying who became known as 'Wylie's Angel.'

They announced the arrest hours after authorities revealed the child's identity. Phillips is Isgrigg's maternal grandmother and primary caretaker. She has been charged with murder and is currently being held in the Collin County Detention Facility with a $500,000 bond.

On April 15, a worker who was cutting the grass on the 1900 block of Skyview Drive near Lake Lavon discovered the body and alerted authorities. The medical examiner said there was no sign of trauma, but that the boy had significant medical needs and appeared to have had been fed through a feeding tube.

Investigators identified the child Friday from a tip received by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

The Wylie community became deeply involved in the investigation. Days after the discovery, police released a sketch of what the child may have looked like. That picture soon lined the windows of storefronts throughout the city. A Facebook page for the child garnered more than 43,000 members. Both North Texas Crime Stoppers and Schepp's Dairy announced a $10,000 reward for any information leading to the child's positive identification.

First Baptist Church of Wylie held and paid for memorial services for the child, after the congregation was deeply affected by the discovery.

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" Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts." - Daniel Moynihan

Credit: Wylie Police DepartmentA photo of Gerren Joseph Isgrigg, which police said was taken about three years ago.

DALLAS - Police have identified the small child found dead in a park near Wylie, authorities announced Friday night.

Known as "Wylie's Angel," police said the boy who was found dumped on April 15 is six-year-old Gerren Joseph Isgrigg.

Police were led to the identity of the child through a tip made to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Wylie authorities said in a statement.

Investigators have been working long hours trying to identify the boy. Authorities said in the 36 hours before the conclusive identification, investigators were following new leads they considered promising.

Investigators said there are several persons of interest. Authorities said they are now investigating to determine exactly what happened during Isgrrigg's final days.

A $20,000 reward was offered in the case.

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" Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts." - Daniel Moynihan

WYLIE, Texas — A boy found dead earlier this month near a North Texas lake has been identified.

Authorities said late Friday that the body is that of 6-year-old Gerren Joseph Isgrigg. A tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children led to Gerren's identification.

His body was found April 15 in a park near Lavon Lake.

Investigators say the boy probably "had significant medical needs." He also showed signs of having had a feeding tube. Autopsy results have not been released.

Malorie Martinez, who helped organize the vigil Thursday night near the lake that attracted hundreds of people, told The Dallas Morning News that she didn't think when she started a Facebook page called "Wylie's Angel" that she would get so much support. Membership for the online group has grown to more than 36,000.

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" Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts." - Daniel Moynihan

sounds to me the "sperm donor and egg donor" put all the responsibility of taking care of Gerren with the Grandmother, not that what she did was right. I am not sure what I am trying to say.....

Police Identify Wylie's Angel, Arrest Grandmother

By LITA BECKUpdated 11:50 PM CDT, Fri, Apr 23, 2010

Wylie police said investigators have identified the boy known as "Wylie's Angel."

A landscaper found the boy's body abandoned in a park near Lake Lavon on April 15.

Wylie police said the boy was identified as 6-year-old Gerren Joseph Isgrigg. Police arrested Darlene Phillips, 63, in the child's death late Friday night.

Detective Venece Perepiczka said the case is still under investigation, but authorities do have enough to charge Phillips with murder.

"Circumstances that she was in control of led to his murder," she said.

Investigators said Phillips was the child's primary caregiver.

Perepiczka declined to say where Phillips resides.

Wylie police said a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children led to the child's identity. Investigators had received hundreds of tips in the case.

Police released a photo of the boy from the boy's father that taken about three years ago.

Investigators have spoken to the child's biological parents, who are not married and live in separate states outside of Texas. The father, who lives in California, and the mother, who lives in Oklahoma, are not considered suspects in the case, Perepiczka said.

The medical examiner earlier said the child appeared to have had severe medical needs and was fed at some point through a feeding tube. The cause of death has not been determined, but the medical examiner said there were no signs of physical trauma.

Now that boy's identity is known, the medical examiner's office can look at his medical history and determine a cause of death. Perepiczka said Friday that the boy's body had no apparent trauma.

"This was just a very unfortunate circumstance in a situation where this little Gerren was not taken care of well, and it ended up to his murder," she said. "That's that best way that I can describe that right now."

Autopsy results were still pending Friday night.

Wylie residents have held vigils to pray for Isgrigg and have left teddy bears and other stuffed animals at a memorial at Eastfork Park, where the boy was found. Volunteers passed out fliers about the boy, and a North Texas woman set up a Facebook page to raise awareness of the case.

"The effort that the media and that the public put into this definitely led to the positive identification of Gerren," Perepiczka said. "At the end of the day, I think the best thing that we did was identify Gerren and find who was responsible for his untimely demise."

Phillips is being held in the Collin County Detention Facility on a $500,000 bond.